


Make A Choice

by EstelleDusk



Category: Human Trafficking (TV), Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, suspected major character death, two versions will be posted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-24
Updated: 2013-06-26
Packaged: 2017-12-16 00:08:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/855547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EstelleDusk/pseuds/EstelleDusk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle has had enough of the dark world that Sergei lived in and pulled her into one fateful day. So she leaves, knowing what might happen, but preferring that she choose her own fate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently involving Sergei is a bit of a taboo in the Rumbelle/Anyelle club, but after watching Human Trafficking and thinking of all the ways our angel Belle could have fixed Sergei, I then had this plot bunny.

"BELLE!"

At her lover's yell, the young woman has half a mind to stop. But she doesn't, she instead continues her calm walk out of the building, not even bothering with closing the door. She's made her choice, now Sergei has to make his.

"Get back here, you damned woman!"

She refuses to allow her unborn child to be born in the world she inhabited for the past few months. She supposes she was lucky. Sergei quickly saw her worth and she spent most of her time doing the books instead of whoring herself like the other girls.

"Belle. Stop or I'll shoot." That makes her stop. That and the click of a gun's safety being switched off.

She slowly turns around, just to see who was holding the gun. She could hardly believe her eyes when she saw Sergei aiming his handgun at her. Then she remembered what she saw him to to that one guard that accidentally killed one of Sergei's whores with his enthusiasm.

"Sergei...I refuse to live this life anymore. Either you stop this or I leave. You can't have your brothels and me. You have to choose."

His eyes tell the answer he refuses to speak. They both know that the rest of the guards he has in the building are watching from windows with their own guns aimed at the beautiful brunette. They both know that the guards are waiting for a signal. The signal being a gunshot from their boss or the lowering of his gun.

"Get back over here, Belle. I'll send someone for the drug to kill the little parasite. I'll keep you on the books, nothing else. You won't have a bastard's kid and you won't be whored around. Just walk back over here."

As his eyes flicker to the windows, Belle can see he's desperate to have some semblance of control when it comes to her. He's mentally pleading with her to come back, but he already knows she won't. She smiles sadly, lowers her head with a small shake. When she raises her head again, she looks him directly in the eyes, and prays he'll make the right choice.

"No one decides my fate but me."

She takes a step back.


	2. Ending 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is version 1 of the possible endings for this drabble. Tumblr user Kanlaughingalonewithawatermelon said they'd kill a man for a part 2, and tumblr user Beeeinyourbonnet made the choice when I asked if Kan would kill a man or a woman. Conversation can be found here if you're interested, my url is MallyMun: http://mallymun.tumblr.com/post/53738778626/kanlaughingalonewithawatermelon-mallymun

“No one decides my fate but me.”

She takes a step back. And then another.

And another.

With her third step, she turns around and runs.

It’s only when she turns the corner that Sergei yells for the guards to gather the newest whores in his brothel. They’re moving to another of his brothels while he stays low for a while. He orders that only the most obedient and broken-in whores stay in town.

Belle knew the incomes of every single one of his whorehouses on the eastern seaboard. And she knew the addresses to the ones in the city. He had to hope that she wouldn’t tell anyone. By not shooting her, he risked his entire empire.

But Sergei never wanted to see his beauty’s blood spilt. Not like this. He couldn’t see why she couldn’t stay in his world. They had money and power, isn’t that all any woman wants?

—Years later—

_“Today is the public funeral of Sergei Karpovich…_ ” The news anchor says, barely seconds into the show.

Belle drops the cup of tea she had been carrying over to the dining table. Her daughter, Lucy, looks up from her cereal.

“Mama? Why’d you drop the cup?”

“ _…Karpovich was the head of a famous modelling agency that recently was found out to be used for human trafficking…_ ”

Silently, Belle leans down and picks up the porcelain pieces and the now chipped cup. She bites her lip, remembering another chipped cup once upon a time. Taking a deep breath, she quickly mops up the spilled tea and puts the cup in the sink. “It’s nothing sweetie, we’re just going to go see your Papa today. It wasn’t safe to see him before today, but now is your only chance.”

Lucy may only be 5, but she knows when her mother is keeping something from her. She knows her mother’s upset because of what the news said, so she pays close attention to the news broadcast while her mother bustles around the apartment, forgetting her own breakfast.

“… _The funeral will be held at 10AM, when most people are at work or in school to give the victims of Karpovich’s reach a bit of privacy. It will be held at Cypress Hills Cemetary in Brooklyn and it is intended for all of the victims to get their closure by attending. But concerning the nature of Karpovich’s crimes, the agent that was in charge of bringing Karpovich down, says she understands if no one comes at all.”_

A few hours later, mother and daughter can be found amongst the other girls that were saved from the whorehouses. Agent Kate Morozov was there to greet each victim. She noticed how the other girls bowed their heads and otherwise stayed out of the way of one woman and her daughter.

She watches as the woman points at the open casket and murmurs something to her daughter. Kate is severely confused when the woman and child put a bouquet of different flowers on top of the coffin. Every other girl attending simply grabbed one of the carnations and threw it on the coffin. Some didn’t even grab a flower, they just spit on the coffin.

When the funeral is over, the girls slowly start leaving. Kate can see that a few of them had some poisonous words for the mysterious mother. But the brunette beauty just smiled and bowed her head before turning around the look at the casket.

That’s when Kate’s curiosity gets the better of her. She walks up to the mother and child and opens her mouth to speak. But the mother beats her to it. “Saint John’s Wort would have been a better choice, Agent.”

“What?”

“They hated him so much for what he did. Maybe a Chinese Chrysanthemum would have worked better, to show him that they were happy now that he is dead.”

Kate gives the woman a curious look. “You’re talking about the flowers? Look, I didn’t really care if I chose the right flower, I just chose one at random.”

“It would have been better if you put some thought into it. Now he’s in the afterlife thinking all these girls were secretly endeared to him. Really, if you had to choose carnations,you could have picked pink ones. Then he’d know that they’d never forget what he did to them.”

Remembering that he saw a pink carnation or two in the bouquet the strange woman put down, Kate decides to ask about the bouquet. “Oh yeah? Well what did that bunch of flowers you placed mean? All the curses you wish you could have told him?”

“No…” Belle remembers the bouquet, has each flower in the front of her mind as she answers, her grip tightening ever so slightly on her daughter’s hand.

“It meant forgiveness.” Daffodils, white tulips, yellow roses.

“Remembrance.” Everlasting, rosemary, Pheasant’s Eye, American cudweed.

“And love.” White and pink roses, motherwort, forget-me-not, yellow acacia.

While Kate tries to wrap her mind around what she said, Belle kneels down next to Lucy. “I’m sorry that the day you meet him is the day you say goodbye. I’ll tell you our story when you’re older. Will you ever forgive me for not telling him about you?”

“Of course, Mama. But he’s not really gone, you know that. You said so in your stories. When we die, we watch over the people we loved in life. So please don’t be sad, what if he’s watching right now? He’d see you cry. And I don’t think Papa would like seeing that.” Lucy replies, far wiser than her years.

Belle lifts a hand to her cheek and realizing that she’s been crying. She gives a short laugh and hugs her daughter. “You’re absolutely right, dearie. Well…I think it’s time we go, you’ve missed enough class for today.”

She stands up straight, gives a loving smile to the place of rest of her beloved, and barely takes a second to say goodbye in his native tongue.

“Do svidaniya, Sergei.”


	3. Ending 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is version 2 of the possible endings for this drabble. Tumblr user Kanlaughingalonewithawatermelon said they'd kill a man for a part 2, and tumblr user Beeeinyourbonnet made the choice when I asked if Kan would kill a man or a woman. Conversation can be found here if you're interested, my url is MallyMun: http://mallymun.tumblr.com/post/53738778626/kanlaughingalonewithawatermelon-mallymun

"No one decides my fate but me."

She takes a step back.

Sergei pulling the trigger seems to take minutes instead of the seconds it really was. Her last thought is that she hopes he doesn't miss at the last second. Belle knew her chances of dying when she decided to walk away from everything. She only wished that she would die quickly, so that there wouldn't be any time for her to change her mind and plead for life.

Sergei's mouth is twisted into a deep frown after his one shot. He holds up his other hand in a hold motion for his guards to see. He walks forward and sees his beauty's crumpled body, still twitching.

Kneeling next to her, he checks for a breath, for a pulse, a sign that she was still alive and not simply going through early rigor mortis. When he decides that she died instantly, he sighs and stands up straight.

Immediately, he orders for someone to come down and clean up the mess while the other guards gather all the new whores and the unbroken ones to take elsewhere for a few days. When one person dares to question him, Sergei's response is simple.

"Someone was sure to have heard that."

So Sergei organized the evacuation and made sure Belle's body was taken as well. He told the guards in charge not to do anything with Belle's body except chill it until he arrived at the safe house. As he watched the vans pull away, he turned the safety back on his gun and hid it away in a pocket as he got into character in case the cops arrived within the next few hours.

When the cops did arrive a half hour later, he feigned ignorance of a gunshot, claiming he thought the noise was some boys using illegal fireworks.

Waiting only another half hour, he sped to the safe house he sent his girls and his beauty to. Sergei ordered everyone to stay out of the room where they stored Belle so long as he was in there.

She was laid on a table, her head tilted to the side, her eyes, thankfully, closed. If it weren't for the gun wound, he would think she was sleeping. So he pulls up a chair, folds his hands, and stares.

He thinks about what could have happened had he let her go.

His empire could have dissolved overnight. She'd have given birth to that bastard child. And most importantly, she'd be alive.

Alive to yell at him, nag, insist that he leave his dark world.

His eyes stray to her belly, and for a moment, he entertains the thought that the child she would have had was his. But that was impossible. Before Sergei took her to his bed, she had been picked by the occasional high-paying customer.

So the kid could have been anyone's.

When Sergei stands up to leave the room, he feels like he owes the dead woman some sort of explanation even if she can't hear it. After a moment of internal debate, he says his goodbyes to his beauty.

"My power means more to me than you, do svidaniya, Belle."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I consider this ending to be the official one


End file.
